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| Silent Spring | 
| Author: Rachel Carson
Creators: Edward O. Wilson, Linda Lear
Publisher: Mariner Books
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $4.89
You Save: $10.06 (67%)
New (62) Collectible (6) from $6.97
Avg. Customer Rating:  134 reviews
Sales Rank: 1170
Format: Special Edition
Media: Paperback
Edition: 104
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.3
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.7
ISBN: 0618249060
Dewey Decimal Number: 363.7384
UPC: 046442249065
EAN: 9780618249060
ASIN: 0618249060
Publication Date: October 22, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Earlier printing with an introduction by Al Gore. Clean with general wear.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Review for Silent Spring January 3, 2007
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
This book was written in 1962 and was the first to introduce the dangers of DDT and other pesticides. This book systematically reveals realistic statistics of the effects of pesticides worldwide. Examples from pesticide control in Europe, Asia, and the US expose the impacts of human actions on nature. Rachel Carson pioneers in describing the impact of pesticides in all parts of nature. In response to the harmful disadvantages to chemical pesticides, Carson offers biological controls which have succeeded in maintaining pests. Though Silent Spring is factual, it is repetative at times. It also emotionally describes environmental aspects. However, Silent Spring is indeed an eye-opening book which allows one to see the impacts of humans and pesticides.
 Silent Spring January 3, 2007
3 out of 8 found this review helpful
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson was a very fascinating novel. It is the "Environmental Bible" and started the environmental conservation movement.She directly focuses on the issue of DDT and other toxic chemicals that are used as pesticides and insecticides. Carson states how we, as humans, have caused many of the problems that Earth has encountered. Many organisms are no longer in existence because of our decisions and actions. I really enjoy how she gives a plethora of examples for each topic. Each chapter focuses on a cause of the environmental issues as well as the effects. I also enjoy her choice in the title of the novel. The first chapter is short and sweet; she speaks of birds that are no longer in existence or no longer living in that particular area and states how it was a silent spring. You learn a lot from her novel and if you're interested in environmental issues and even chemistry this book is vital to your studies. Overall, the book was good. However there were a few minor things I did not care much for. She was quite repetitious at times and got into depth a bit too much. I also felt that the book sort of lacked a plot which made itdifficult to stay focused. Other than that, Silent Spring is a brilliant novel and Rachel Carson deserves big time kudos for her excellent job in reshaping many people's views of the environment.
 Can you believe people are still disbelieving after 40 years!? September 16, 2006
6 out of 17 found this review helpful
It certainly doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that whatever "inputs" we put into a system (Earth, humans, water, air, etc.), will in turn impact the system and the systems "outputs." If we put poison into the soil, air, and water, we will ultimately re-ingest these materials and create a toxic environment that will be unable to support the system that we are purportedly trying to save. Do the logic yourself. What kind of logic is it that would say that malaria deaths justify the use of DDT? We have no idea of how many millions, or billions, of people globally have been impacted by its use in the forms of debilitating illnesses and death from cancer and the like. With this false rationale, just as in the current debate over the use and subsequent output of carbon materials, we are again showing our naivete in believing that we can put a "technological" fix on an issue that is better addressed by the way we live and consume. So, we save all these poor souls from malaria, but then we give them a planet that is poisonous? Nonsensical at best.
Very Informative May 14, 2006
2 out of 7 found this review helpful
Although this book was published more than 40 years ago, it's still worth a read. I found it interesting, informative and disturbing. Although I know DDT has been banned, I can't help but worry about some of the lasting effects of it and other chemicals used as pesticides or insecticides.
 A misguided mass killer April 28, 2006
31 out of 106 found this review helpful
Before this misguided book was published, DDT was successfully reducing malaria deaths across the globe. After it, and the subsequent ban on DDT, millions of people have suffered and died needlessly. For example, in Sri Lanka in 1948, there were 2.8 million malaria cases and 7,300 malaria deaths. With widespread DDT use, malaria cases fell to 17 and no deaths in 1963. After DDT use was discontinued, Sri Lankan malaria cases rose to 2.5 million in the years 1968 and 1969, and the disease remains a killer in Sri Lanka today.
Carson' science is dodgy, her conclusions false and her prescriptions plain wrong. Do not buy this book
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Wildlife, nature and the Environment
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